REQUIRED READING: Clark Ashton Smith's "The Dark Eidolon" and "Morthylla"

I first read these stories years, years ago, in the late 80s. And twenty years later, I still love them and consider them some of Smith's best work.

So here's a little spoiler-ridden analysis...

This'n'That

Assorted stuff...

More views of Clark Ashton Smith's "Zothique" stories:

Report from the Capital Fringe Festival

OK, it was a hot steamy day here in DC, so naturally I went out, sweating like a freakin' horse, to catch two plays in annual Capital Fringe Festival.

The Fringe Festival is similar to ones that run in places like Philadelphia or Edinburgh; performers and theatrical troupes set up in various out-of-the-way venues. It's actually a fun way of sampling the works of different groups and seeing some stuff you might ordinarily miss.

REQUIRED VIEWING: Hellboy 2

I just got in from seeing HELLBOY 2: THE GOLDEN ARMY with a couple of friends, and let me tell you folks....it's good. Very good. It's a visual feast.

More Smith, and Other Stuff

So, after completing last night's post, and checking some stuff online, I managed to find a halfway reasonably priced copy of ELEGANT NIGHTMARES on abebooks.com. And it's mine, MINE, I tell you! The next-cheapest is $60 and it's all uphill from there. Check your library system.

Done some more reading of Clark Ashton Smith's "Zothique" stories, dark and decadent tales of a dying Earth hundreds of thousands of years in the future, when civilization is falling apart and sorcery has been rediscovered.

ELEGANT NIGHTMARES, by Jack Sullivan

Wouldn't this be a great name for a blog? (I considered it for a while.) Sullivan's ELEGANT NIGHTMARES is a great critical overview of some of the essential ghost story writers for both the experience reader of supernatural fiction, and the neophyte just starting off on that fascinating and shadowy path.

I read this first many, many years ago. It was definitely before I went to college, probably while I was in high school. I remember jotting down all sorts of titles to hunt down, but had little luck until my mature years in finding them. Then again, many of the stories Sullivan discusses were, at the time, out of print and available only in libraries or absurdly expensive and absurdly rare editions.

Report from Monster Bash

OK, it's been over a week, but I've had a wild time since getting back. I was unable to blog from the con, as I couldn't hook up to the wireless connection in my far-flung hotel room (I was waaaay in the back), and then I was busy at work catching up on stuff, and then had an insanely busy weekend (book club, volunteer work, big burlesque show, and lunch with one of my best buds). So finally tonight I'm getting down to it.

Monster Bash, for those who don't know, is a yearly horror convention in the Pittsburgh PA area (this year in the suburb of Butler), with a focus on classic monster movies (not much for slasher and torture porn there, thank goodness). It also functions as a sort of family reunion for a circle of friends who interact throughout the year via the 'net.